Commuters urged to learn more about transportation options

The Southwestem Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) is encouraging all commuters in Southwestern Pennsylvania to learn more about commuting options available in the region.

To focus attention on available commuting alternatives SPC, at its meeting on April 21, proclaimed May to be Commutelnfo Commute Options Awareness Month. During May, SPC’s Commutelnfo program is promoting the benefits of alternatives to driving alone, The goal of SPC’s Commutelnfo program is for commuters in Southwestern Pennsylvania to choose ridesharing at least twice a week.

More than 75 percent of the workers in the SPC region drive alone to work. If fewer commuters drove alone, there would be less traffic congestion and the air would be cleaner. And commuters would save a lot of money. Alternatives to driving alone, like vanpooling, carpooling, using public transit or biking to work, are just a few of the ways to lower the cost of commuting.

In the past year, Commutelnfo’s nearly 1,300 registered vanpool and carpool participants helped to reduce the number of single-occupant vehicles on the region’s roads by over 1,000 vehicles each workday. By not driving alone to work or school each day, participants reduced the number of vehicle round trips taken in the region by over 260,000.

Or, using an average of a 15-mile one-way commute (30 miles round trip), this is a savings of more than 7,807,800 vehicle miles traveled. In addition, each participant saved an average of $800 in gas costs alone during 2013 (assuming $3,30 per gallon of gas), or a total fuel cost savings of over $1,030,000 for all program participants.

Visit http://www.commuteinfo.org and take advantage of the Commutelnfo Commute Cost Calculator to estimate how much individual drivers could be saving.

For more information about Commutelnfo and commuter alternatives, visit http://www.commuteinfo.org, or call toll free 1-888-819-6110.